Contact Gov. Wolf and PA Members of Congress to Support 5-Year Extension of CHIP

From First Focus (https://firstfocus.org/):

Earlier this spring, more than 1,200 groups across the country (including the Pennsylvania Council of Churches) signed a First Focus letter to congressional leaders urging quick action on a long-term funding extension for the popular and effective Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which expires in just a few weeks on September 30th.

As you may know, CHIP is a 20-year old, bipartisan program that insures approximately 8.9 million low-income children in working families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to purchase private insurance on their own.

Now, we are asking again for help to ensure Congress takes action to extend CHIP before federal funding expires at the end of the month.
Specifically, as lawmakers return to Washington this week, we urge you to:

Contact Governor Wolf and PA’s congressional delegation at http://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/51115/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=23206 and ask them to voice their strong support for a 5-year extension of current CHIP policy before the September 30th deadline.

Federal funding for CHIP was last extended by Congress in a near unanimous vote in 2014 as part of the Medicare and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). CHIP remains a popular program among policymakers on both sides of the aisle at the federal, state, and local levels. Most important, CHIP is a critical source of affordable, comprehensive, pediatric-focused insurance for families.

If Congress fails to extend CHIP funding by the end of September, millions of children will face coverage disruptions as states consider the budgetary implications of imminent CHIP funding shortfalls. At a time when our nation has made so much progress in covering kids, this would be an enormous step backwards.

Disruptions in coverage for millions of children enrolled in CHIP can be avoided if congressional leaders make CHIP a priority agenda item.

Working together, we can let Congress know that families and states are counting on them to extend CHIP funding before the September 30th expiration date.